RICK ROSS NAMED #5 ON MTV’S TOP MC’S LIST AND ROSS IS CO-SIGNED BY RAKIM

MTV Shows

The 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game rollout is on! As in 2007 and 2008, the list, determined by the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust, is based on an MC’s achievements right now, rather than an entire career. The criteria is based on a combination of rhyme skill, flow and how those things are implemented musically as the main factors. The Brain Trust also considers buzz, impact, commercial success — sales, airplay, business ventures, Web presence, endorsements and helping to spawn other artists’ careers — and the intangible, impact: Can an artist not only contribute to the rap game but influence cultural shifts? Are they trendsetters? All of these factors — and the results of our audience poll, which closed last week and gets a vote at the Round Table during the Brain Trust’s debate — contribute to deciding who is the Hottest MC in the Game. We’ll be announcing an MC’s rank every day this week, with the full list revealed on Sunday at 10 p.m. during “P. Diddy’s Starmaker”!